Bihar shows the power of crony capitalism

It’s land acquisition time again. The Adani Group has acquired 1,000 acres in Bhagalpur, Bihar, for a coal-based thermal power plant — at the shockingly low rate of Re 1 per acre per year. The Bihar government formally handed over the land on 11 September, locked in for a lease period of 33 years.

The Rs 25,000 crore project, slated to become operational between 2028 and 2030, is in Pirpainty, approximately 60 km from Godda. Those following the news will recall that in 2015–16, the Adani Group received land under generous terms to establish a 1,600 MW thermal power plant in Godda. The deal, sanctioned by the then BJP-led state government, faced massive opposition with farmers alleging forced land acquisition, intimidation and police brutality.

In August, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which came to power in 2024, formed a high-level committee to probe irregularities in the Godda land acquisition.

The controversy surrounding the new 2,400 MW power project goes beyond the fact that it is not being managed by the public sector National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), which already operates a plant in Kahalgaon, Bhagalpur. Under the agreement, the electricity generated will be sold at a fixed tariff of Rs 6.75 per unit for 25 years — a rate that critics point out is significantly higher than what consumers currently pay in states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

The Bihar government has provided Adani Power not just the land, and also assured water supply from the Ganga and coal freight connectivity via rail. Such a comprehensive support package can only be seen as blatant cronyism, say opposition parties. “The Bihar government has practically gifted more than 1,000 acres to Adani and will burden us with expensive electricity,” said a CPI-ML leader.

Villagers are tight-lipped about allegations of coercive land acquisition. At a meeting, the local BJP MLA openly threatened anyone who dared to raise objections: “Jo virodh karega, usko jail bhej diya jaayega (those who protest will be sent to jail)”. A farmer confirmed this, on condition of anonymity.

On 15 September, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone in Purnia (100 km from Pirpainty), several protesting farmers were detained or placed under house arrest. The local mukhiya of Hirankol panchayat, Dipak Singh, was jailed.

A four-member fact-finding team from the CPI-ML (Liberation), led by Arrah MP Sudama Prasad, visited Pirpainty and reported that at least 65 families in Kamalapur have been ordered to vacate their homes without any rehabilitation plan in place.

One of the team members, Sheo Sagar Sharma, told National Herald, “Speaking against Adani is enough to land you in jail. People are living in fear and are unwilling to speak up.”

The biggest flashpoint remains the site itself. The land, which was originally acquired by the state in 2014, includes prime mango and litchi orchards — both key cash crops in the state. The compensation paid was reportedly well below the prevailing market rate.

While the Opposition alliance in Bihar — RJD, Congress, CPI-ML and other Left parties — has unanimously decried the deal as a yet another “windfall for Adani” and accused the government of shielding the agreement from public scrutiny, the state government has predictably mobilised local influencers and YouTubers to back its stance of all this being in the service of Bihar’s urgent need for industrial development and private investment.

On 21 September, the CPI-ML (Liberation) held statewide protests. The issue was also raised on 22 September at the CPI’s centenary celebrations in Chandigarh by party general-secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.

The Congress, RJD and Left parties have been actively raising concerns about Adani’s expansion model across various platforms, keeping the issue in the public eye. With Assembly elections on the horizon and additional land required for ash ponds and rail yards, construction on the Pirpainty power plant is not expected to commence soon. It has, however, ignited a firestorm — one that may shape the political discourse in Bihar for months to come.